DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (I'M BACK AND I HOPE NO MORE INTERRUPTIONS OCCUR XD)
Senbons and Needles
Asuma and Kushimaru were facing off one another, both Jounin were staring down at their opponent in front of them. They knew who they were up against and they did not plan on taking any chances. Overall, both of them respected one another for being damn good at their jobs. Asuma knew that facing off one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist) alone is quite risky. Asuma has heard plenty of stories about that group and what they have done, he knew how ruthless and brutal they can be. An organization for only the best swordsmen Kirigakure can produce, wielding powerful blades to be reckoned with. A group like this is no laughing matter for it is known that this organization is capable of bringing down a nation, with only seven members at a time.
Kushimaru on the other hand was well aware of what Asuma is capable of, going up against the son of the Sandaime and a member of the Shugonin Junishi (Twelve Guardian Ninja) was quite a tall order. Being one of the bodyguards of the Fire Daimyo is not a small feat at all, a group that is composed of twelve skilled ninjas that were drawn from all corners of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). You must have what it takes to be drafted into this group, dawning a waistcloth that is marked with the kanji for fire is like a red target on their head. Each member of this group surely has a large bounty just to have them killed and/or captured. This meant that if Kushimaru were to be successful in dispatching Asuma, he would not only accomplish his job but he would also have a massive payday. A large enough payday for him to ditch Gato altogether.
Both Jounin were standing still, only a couple of meters were separating the two. And in any second, one of them would probably do the first move. A breeze blew past them thus rustling the leaves of the trees, both of them glared at one another. After all, before the battle of the mist comes the battle of the mind.
Kushimaru decided to strike first, he threw a smoke bomb on the ground thus creating a plume of smoke for him to hide in. He vanished from Asuma's sightlines. Asuma then looked around him to find his opponent for losing track of his opponent would be a massive blunder on his part due to their group's specialty which is "Silent Killing". Asuma needed to locate Kushimari quickly, time was of the essence.
Asuma's surroundings then began to fill with mist, a mist so thick that he could not see much of his surroundings. With his vision slightly impeded, Asuma was certainly at a disadvantage. He knew what jutsu this was, it was the Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique). A staple jutsu for all Kirigakure shinobi, using this jutsu provides them an edge over their opponent by transforming their battlefield into something similar to their home turf back in Kirigakure where mist and fog are an everyday thing.
Asuma had to keep his guard up and be on high alert at all times, he has no idea where Kushimaru would strike but he was sure as hell he won't be giving him the chance to do so. Asuma listened closely to his surroundings in the hopes of gaining at least a rough idea of where Kushimaru was. He then heard projectiles coming his way, Asuma dodged to the left and saw senbons pass by. But it did not stop there, Asuma kept dodging, strafing, and dashing to avoid being punctured by a multitude of senbons. After a while, the barrage of senbons stopped which allowed Asuma to catch his breath.
Asuma looked around his vicinity to see senbons stuck to the ground, and the trunks of trees. Heck, some senbons even stuck themselves into boulders. Asuma knows that Kushimaru isn't finished yet, he had to get rid of the mist somehow to level out the playing field once more. Kushimaru was aware of Asuma's intentions of clearing out the mist but he wasn't going to let him do that easily.
Kushimaru rushed towards Asuma, with the Nuibari (Needle Sword) in hand. Being a master of this technique, allowed Kushimaru to get absurdly close to Asuma without alerting him in the first place. But Kushimaru knew that being able to land a clean hit on Asuma that easily was wishful thinking. Asuma was able to block his blade just in time, he used his trench knives to stop his Nuibari (Needle Sword). Both Jounin were pushing their blades against one another but neither of them didn't falter. Instead, they kept on pushing against each other whilst applying more force as time passed by.
Kushimaru and Asuma then backed off one another in order to put some distance between the two of them, Asuma thought he could use this window to come up with something when it was time for him to go on the offensive. But Asuma was sorely mistaken, Kushimaru kept on coming at him instead of backing away and strategizing. Both of them were tremendously skilled in using bladed weapons but in this case, Kushimaru has an edge over him. The Nuibari (Needle Sword) simply outranged his trench knives by a large amount, this simple fact is the sole reason why Asuma isn't being aggressive and Kushimari knows this. Kushimari knew the advantage he has and he was certain of abusing it. Though Asuma knew that he can extend the range of his trench knives anytime, he did not want to burn through his chakra reserves that quickly. Asuma knows that Kushimaru would simply turn their fight into a battle of attrition, and Asuma certainly didn't want that.
Kushimaru sprinted towards Asuma to prevent him from catching a break, he slashed and thrust his Nuibari (Needle Sword) at Asuma in an attempt to wound his foe. Asuma on the other hand was able to dodge and/or block some of his strikes, though some of Kushimaru's attacks were able to inflict some damage to him. He suffered some shallow cuts but nothing too detrimental to his well-being. Kushimaru continued his assault on Asuma, Asuma thought to himself that enough was enough. He no longer wanted to be on the defensive, Asuma pushed Kushimari back after which he backflipped away to put some distance between him and his opponent.
Asuma performed a fire jutsu, the purpose of which was to both injure Kushimari and raise the temperature of their surroundings due to condensation. "Katon: Karyudan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet)" Asuma said as he exhaled flames from his mouth which were aimed at Kushimaru. Kushimaru in response, performed a water-style jutsu to counter the Asuma's fire-style jutsu. "Suiton: Daiteppodama (Water Release: Great Gunshot)" said Kushimaru as he spat out a giant pressurized bullet of water from his mouth.
Both projectiles made of opposite natures clashed, canceling out one another in the end. The result was a large amount of steam spreading across the area, Kushimaru was rather disappointed that his water jutsu wasn't able to completely overwhelm Asuma fire jutsu to prevent him from condensing the mist around them. But alas, Asuma raised the area's temperature either way.
As the temperature rose, the mist slowly began to disappear thus enabling Asuma to see his surroundings clearly once more. Asuma reached for his pouch and grabbed some shurikens, he then threw them at Kushimaru, Asuma performed the following hand seals: Ox – Dog – Dragon – Rat – Dog – Boar – Snake – Tiger, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)" he said as the dozen shuriken he threw turned into a hundred.
Kushimaru answered Asuma's attack with his own set of hand seals: Tiger – Snake – Rat – Snake – Tiger, "Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)", Kushimari spat out a stream of water from his mouth at the ground which then circled around him and rose upward to form a protective wall made of water. The wall of water was able to block all the shurikens coming his way. But Kushimaru saw Asuma smirk, that was the moment he knew something was up.
The shurikens he threw were attached to some ninja wire he attached beforehand. The shurikens that passed beside him attached to the back of a tree trunk that Kushimaru was standing in front of, he was surrounded by ninja wire. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)" Asuma said as a flame in the shape of a dragon quickly traveled toward Kushimaru, the speed of the flames was increased due to it being guided by Asuma's ninja wire. Kushimaru was surprised for sure and was then engulfed in flames. But Asuma knew that the fight has just begun.
Once the flames and smoke dissipated, Asuma saw that Kushimari was missing. "Impressive Saturobi-san, you almost got me there you see?" Kushimari said to Asuma. He looked behind him to see Kushimaru gesturing to the burns he sustained from Asuma's attack. His arms had some burns, his clothes had burn marks, and his mask was scorched in some areas.
"I could say the same to you as well Kuriare-san"
"Much obliged but don't think you're the only one who can use wires" Kushimaru retorted as returned on the offensive. He slashed his swords at Asuma multiple times, and the speed of his slashes increased as time passed. Thankfully, Asuma was able to counter, block, and parry his strikes. Essentially, he came out unscathed from Kushimaru's barrage earlier.
Kushimaru shunshined and vanished from Asuma's sights once more, he then reappeared in front of Asuma but this time he was utilizing taijutsu instead of kenjutsu which was odd. Why would Kushimaru use taijutsu instead of kenjutsu when he is clearly more skilled with kenjutsu, a question that boggled Asuma for sure. But now was not the time to contemplate such things, his opponent is right in front of him and he needed to prepare for his attack right away.
Kushimaru cocked his right fist to land a jab on Asuma's face, Asuma quickly dodged to the left but he was punished for it since it was merely a feint meant to bait him out. Kushimaru capitalized on this and quickly landed a jab onto his abdomen, Asuma gasped for air as Kushimaru punched his stomach with great force. Kushimaru continued his combo by launching Asuma with a knee kick, he then jumped up to be on the same level as Asuma. Kushimaru landed a single kick onto Asuma's body followed by three rapid kicks, he shunshined behind him and landed another kick onto his back, he shunshined once more and this time he was in front of him and on a much higher elevation. Kushimaru spun around to add more momentum to his kick, he delivered a spinning heel kick onto him. Asuma's body was sent flying back to the ground, the impact then caused a massive crater to appear on the ground.
Asuma coughed up blood, his entire body was aching. He did not expect Kushimaru to use his Silent Killing technique without the Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique), he simply used it to conceal his location by making it hard for him to hear where he was coming from. Asuma stood up from the ground and saw Kushimaru ahead of him, "Why would he keep his distance from me? Shouldn't he be here pummeling me into the ground even more?" Asuma thought to himself as he analyzed Kushimaru from afar. As he was contemplating Kushimaru's intentions, he kept a close eye on his opponent. While doing so, Asuma felt that something was wrong. Asuma couldn't see Kushimaru's face behind his mask but he could sense that he was smiling.
Kushimaru suddenly pulled a ninja wire, Asuma then realized the name of Kushimaru's sword. He looked down and saw that something was about to emerge from the ground, Asuma quickly left his position until suddenly a wire emerged from the ground.
A fruit from a tree branch then fell onto the wire, it was cut in half as if it was made of butter. There was no doubt that these wires are extremely sharp. If he wasn't able to remove his leg there, he would've lost it as a result. But that wasn't the only wire Kushimaru placed. Apparently, Kushimaru placed these ninja wires while he was fighting him with taijutsu. Asuma didn't know how he did it exactly but that doesn't matter right now to him, what matters is that he needs to watch out for the wires his opponent scattered around the area. Who knows? The whole area might already be littered with Kushimaru's ninja wire and they were simply waiting to be revealed.
More and more of Kushimaru's ninja wire got revealed, and Asuma continued to move in order to avoid being caught by the wire. He dashed from side to side, he bent his body in rather odd ways to avoid being minced meat. But Asuma was not able to dodge all of them completely, some of the wires were able to graze him and thus cut him. The cuts weren't deep but they did hurt like hell, Asuma winced in pain but he kept on moving for there was no time to assess his injuries.
Asuma continued to perform a series of Kawarimis (Body Replacements) and Shunshins (Body Flickers) to escape the wires, but after a while, it seemed like there were no more wires to be revealed. Asuma suffered tons of cuts on his body, his clothes were tattered and covered with blood due to being cut. He wasn't at risk of bleeding out but the cuts sure did hurt like hell for Asuma.
"Outstanding Sarutobi-san" Kushimaru laughed maniacally as he slowly clapped. "Only a handful of people were able to get out of my trap, the Choto Ninpo Jigumo Nui (Longsword Ninja Art: Earth Spider Sewing) is one of the best jutsu in my arsenal, props to you for almost escaping it"
Asuma's eyes widened as he saw one final ninja wire approaching him, he tried to escape but it was already too late for the wire was only centimeters away from cutting off his head. The wire was on a higher elevation and was concealed which was why he did not notice it right away, the wire sliced through his neck thus decapitating him as a result.
Kushimaru got down from the tree branch he was on to collect the head of his foe as proof to claim Asuma's bounty. Kushimaru whistled as he approached Asuma's corpse on the forest floor, but he was the body turned into a puff of smoke. "What?!" Kushimaru said in shock, Kushimaru thought that Asuma probably shunshined away and replaced himself with a clone.
He looked around to find where Asuma was, either he escaped or was just hiding somewhere. Kushimaru then noticed a small puddle of blood nearby, he took a closer look and saw that the blood was coming from above. Kushimaru smirked and thought to himself that Asuma was hiding above him, he then threw senbons above him. But nothing happened, "Tccch… Bastard left... And I was beginning to enjoy the fight too..." Kushimaru sighed at the prospect of his opponent ending their battle.
(A/N: Hey there! Sorry for not uploading/updating in a while, college stuff really is a bitch to deal with but I digress. I also had some sort of breakdown since I am faced with a major decision that would affect my future and stuff. I do hope yall understand, and I do have a life outside fanfiction and I still need to keep my responsibilities in terms of studies and family stuff. And yea, thanks to Atomsk for your kind words haha, and for understanding my situation and shit. Also! Ogremen, I looked at the challenges you got. I'll try at least one as a way to make it up to you guys. I also have some extra chapters for this fic in my back pocket. It is called TLASC (The Lost Archives: Shinobi Chronicles) I'm just going to finish this arc first before trying the idea out. Once again, I am truly sorry for not uploading for a while. Too much stuff and interruptions and yea. I do hope all of you still support my fic despite my irregular upload times and yeah. Thanks yall and cheers ^^)